Cape Town Sevens A Resounding Success As Blitzboks Defend Title

The Cape Town leg of the HSBC Sevens offered its share of frills, thrills, entertainment, and fanfare as the BlitzBoks remained unbeaten on their way to retaining the title they won last year by defeating Argentina in a pulsating final to the adulation of a rapturous crowd with a 21-19 scoreline.  

The Blitzboks showed tremendous resolve to come from behind in their opening two games, beating Fiji 24-21, as hat-trick hero Shilton Van Wyk scored the winner on the stroke of full-time, before defeating last week’s Dubai leg winners New Zealand, 19-14. 

With their semi-final place secured, the Blitzboks sent the crowd home happy with a 41-7 obliteration of Great Britain as Sonwabo Sokoyi scored on debut.

On day two – a blistering hot midday semi-final pitted the South Africans against France in a replay of last year’s final. 

Shilton Van Wyk opened the scoring for the Blitzboks within the first minute before Tristan Leyds dotted down for the second try to race into a 10-0 lead. With France yet to mount any offence, they scored on their first foray as Jordan Sepho crossed the try line.

Van Wyk got his second of the game in the final 30 seconds of the half before Josselin Bouhier scored after the hooter sounded – giving the Blitzboks a 17-12 half-time lead. 

Bouhier scored again on the other side of half-time – within the first 20 seconds – and subsequently levelled the scores. 

The second half was a tight affair with fewer tries but no less drama, as Ryan Oosthuizen scored the winner with 20 seconds left on the clock to send the Blitzboks into the final with a 22-17 victory. 

In the second semi-final, Argentina defeated Fiji 29-21 – outscoring the Fijians five tries to three – after heading into half-time with a strong 17-0 lead. 

The final did not start as South Africa had hoped, as the bullish frame of Luciano Gonzalez rampaged his way to the opening try. Donovan Don hit back with a reply before Marcos Moneta scored immediately from kick-off to put Argentina back into the lead. 

At half-time and 14-7 down, the Blitzboks looked well in the game; however, another try by Moneta after a wonderful slaloming solo run seemed to put an end to the Blitzboks’ fight.

Fight and persistence are characteristics that run deep into the Blitzboks camp, though, and they dug deep once again as tournament debutant Sonwabo Sokoyi dotted down to bring the Blitzboks within two points. 

As the game approached its final minute and it looked as if Argentina were about to hold on, Christie Grobelaar touched down under the posts to secure the Cape Town Sevens title as Cape Town Stadium erupted. 

Upon creating history and becoming the first Blitzbok side to win consecutive Cape Town titles, coach Phillip Snyman said, “This is really special. We have come a long way in the last year. Everyone who got an opportunity showed they can fulfil a role. We cannot put the effort and attitude into words. It’s a massive victory for us.”

The Blitzboks will enjoy a deserved break before jetting off to Singapore for the third leg over the weekend of 31 January – 1 February.